flexiblade

As it stands I now own 9 kites - as we all have experienced 1 is not enough. The firebee was added to the collection as my sixth kite, I bought it accidentally when I wanted to find out what the reserve price on E-bay was - not a bad deal for $93. My previous experience with kites were with a 4 and 4.9m flexifoil blade 3's, a pkd buster 3m, a mac para 2m, and a rhombus blackhole 1.2m. I've been buggying for the past 2 months - mainly down at ocean beach in san francisco. Compared to the lot the 2.3 is amazing when it comes to winds over 20 mph. It has the characteristics of a blade, in that it delivers clean force throughout the window and will hang like a rock at the edge of the window and continue to power up. I've guestimated my top speed with this kite at about 35mph in 27 mph winds ( I was pacing the trafiic on the great highway). It's responsive and quick when you need it to be, turns on a dime as most small kites do but doesn't oversteer or become twitchy as the mac para does ( the mac has a tendency to go into a propeller death spin when it gets cranky). Overall this has become my favorite go to kite - When the winds start punching past twenty I know I'm guaranteed a day of fast runs down the beach with my 2.3. I give this kite a 9 out of 10 ( a 10 kite would be able to produce its own winds). May good winds find you. By : flexiblade

To start off with I had only experienced flying with a Rhombus Blackhole 2 Meter kite - a good trainer and all around fun kite. But I felt I needed more (as usual with kites). I ended up purchaseing a Blade III 4.0 and was anxious to find out what it could do, I took it out the night I got it and gave it a test run in the street holding onto just the bridles in low winds - it instantly inflated and hovered above me taunting me to take it for a real flight. The next day I took it to work and anxiously waited for lunch as the winds picked up throughout the day. As soon as I clocked out I ran (yes ran) to the field out in the back of the shop and started setting up with my heart thumping, not knowing exactly what to expect. The winds were running a clean 8 to 12mph - perfect conditions to start with. The kite as the evening before didn't hesitate a bit on takeoff - immediate and smooth takeoff with a bit of pull making me lean way back. After sitting it in the zenith for a bit I began working the kite back and forth across the window, the pull was amazing, I scudded at least 10 ft a couple of times while doing this trying not to get launched onto my face. The handling was great - not the fastest turn radius on the outside edge using just the power lines - but with a little testing I was able to get much better turns using the brake line on one handle and the power line on the other. Upon dumping the kite accidently I found the brake recovery system incredible - beautiful design - its sooo convienient to be able to relaunch so easily. I did find as the winds increased the pull to be almost exponential - 12mph is a good strong pull - later flights showed that 16mph starts getting a little hairy if you don't have experience, and 20 mph is dangerous without some serios time under your belt. As far as the lift that's associated with this kite I've yet to experience anything to really back this up. In the high teens (15 - 18mph) your arms will get sore just holding the kite in its zenith - but I never experienced any zero G events. Running the kite into the window at these wind velocities is like holding onto a very strong and angy bucking bronco. In closing the kite is a sleak brute. In clean wind it has incredible power that with experience is a thrill - gusty winds though can be seriously dangerous - a word of advice in flying this kite, always wear kite killers and never, repeat never underestimate the power of your kite (which goes for all powerkites in gusty conditions). If your brave (or just a little simple) and you don't like wearing kite killers because you feel their cumbersome, never fully extend your arms - if you get a nasty gust your arms will have no time to react and your center of gravity are your shoulders - you will be launched head first into what ever is in front of you. I highly recommend the Blade III 4.0 if your looking for an adrenalin rush - but do be careful this kite can be unforgiving. May good winds find their way to you! By : flexiblade